Load bearing glazed building block



April 2 6, 193s.

A. HENDERSON LOAD BEARING GLAZED BUILDING LocK Filed Feb. 15, 1937'ynaadavnlaazmaada z-sheets-sheet 1 mvENToR /berzL Heqderso/j mm/M April26, 1938. v A. HENDERSON LOAD BEARING GLAZED-BUILDING BLOCK Filed F'eb.l5, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 www# .u x

/yderso/Z INVENTOR Albert He Patented Apr. 26, 1938 l lUMTED STATESPATENT OFFICE Albert Henderson, Edgewood, Pa., assignor to William P.Witherow, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Application February 13, 1937, Serial No. 125,575

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a building block to be used in the 'laying upof walls capable of transmitting light.

Light-transmitting walls have usually been composed either of glass tileor brick, although it has also been proposed to place glass vpanes overthe ends of the usual voids extending through rbuilding blocks, and thenlay the blocks on their sides to provide for the transmission of lightthrough the wall. The cost of a wall composed of Aglass tile or brick isexcessive, especially if the wall has to bear any load, and the amountof light transmitted' through a Wall composed of blocks having glasspanes setl in the ends of the usual voids is relatively-slight. It is anobject of my invention, therefore, to provide a relatively inexpensivewall construction capable of transmittinga substantial amount of lightthere-v' through. I l

In vaccordance with my invention, rI employ a building block of anysuitable material, such as concrete, having one or.V morevoidsfextendingl "therethrough from top to bottom. Iprovide Wind owopenings in one orjmoreof the yside Walls of ythe block andplaceLi-langedglass lplates in said openings. 'The blocks 're laid up ina, wan with theirkvoids /vertica-hwhereby' the glazed side walls` areeffective to transmit llight through the wall.

0 lIfhe glass plates are firmly embedded ln the block by the shrinkageof the concrete therearound and actually bear a substantial part of theload on the block.

I preferably manufacture the block of my invention by disposing angedglass plates in a mold with the plates themselves engaging a wall of themold and the flanges thereof engaging a core extending through the mold.I -then pour a cementitious mix around the core and glass plates to formthe complete block.

Further features of my invention will become apparent as the followingdetailed description thereof proceeds. The accompanying drawingsillustrate a preferred embodiment and practice with certainmodifications. In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one form of block according to myinvention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of Ia flanged glass plate adapted to beincorporated in a block;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view through the block of Fig. l, taken along amedial horizontal plane;

Fig.y4 is a sectional view taken through a mold along a medialhorizontal plane, illustrating the methodof manufacture;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3, showing a modified construction;

Fig. 6 is a fragment of Fig. 5 to enlarged scale;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a modified form of block;

Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional View taken through one of the windows inthe block-of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a. perspective view of a further modication; 4

Fig. l0 is a sectional view thereof similar to l0 Fig. 8;

Fig; l1 is a sectional view taken through one form of wall constructionin accordance with the invention; and

Fig'f12 is a similar view showing afurther form 15 of wall. y y

Referring now in detail 'to the drawings, a block I0 composed ofconcrete or other-suitable material hasvoids II extending verticallytherethrough, leaving side walls I2, end walls I3 and a 20 center wallI4. The voids II' extend through the block from top to bottom thereofand are preferably formed by cores during the molding of the block.vWindow openings I5 are provided ina plurality ofthe side or end WallsI2 and I3. Fig'. 1` 25: A

shows such window openings inr botlrthe side Walls I 2 only. Flangedglass plates IlI overlie the openings I 5 and make a tight joint lwiththe edges of the openings. The flanges I1 of the plates I6 taperinwardly and their outer surfaces 30 are serrated, as at I8, for apurpose which will appear presently. The bevel on the outside of theglass iianges permits their easy removal and replacement in case ofbreakage.

Fxg.4i11ustrates diagrammaticauy the method 35 which I prefer formanufacturing blocks of the type shown in Fig. 1. `A mold 20 of anysuitable construction is provided with cores 2I preferably movablerelative to the side Walls of the mold through suitable openings in a.pallet 22. With the cores 2 I in position, I dispose a plurality ofplates I6, as shown in Fig. 4, with their at surfaces engaging the moldwalls and their flanges engaging the cores 2l. Filler blocks 23 of any45 suitable material are disposed between the glass plates and the coresto prevent seepage of the plastic material. Reinforlcing members 24 arepositioned adjacent the bottom and top and ends of the lmold before andafter the placing of the- 50 glass plates I6. Concrete or other suitableplastic material is then poured into the mold around the cores the glassplates. After partial setting, the pallet is raised to eject the blockfrom the mold, by apparatus such as that shown and described in mycopending application Ser. No. 62,965, filed Feb. 8, 1936, for Methodand apparatus for making concrete articles.- After further setting, thefiller blocks 23 are removed and the blocks are then cured. 'I'heserrations I8' on the flanges I1 of the plates I 6 cause the latter toform a rm bondwith the concrete. Also, the shrinkage of the cement gripsthe glass, thereby permitting the glass to help carry` the load.

Fig. 5 shows a modification in which the end walls `I3 and the middleweb I4 of the block shown in Fig. 1 are provided with Window openingshaving plates I6 disposed therein. As shown in Fig. 6, the anges I I ofthe plates I6 are beveled adjacent their edges, as at 25. These .edgesare thus adapted for contact with.r each other, as shown in Figs. 5 and6, as well as with the cores 2I.

Figs. 7 and 8 illustrate a further modiiied form of block composed ofconcrete or the like and having window openings therein. Each windowopening is provided with a pair of plates I6 disposed edge to edge, as.shown in Fig. 8.

Figs. 9 and 10 show a block having single plates I6 seated in itswindows.

Fig. 11 illustrates a wall composed of blocks I0. As there shown, therays of light may pass through the wall at an angle because the voids IIof the several courses of blocks are vertically alined. Transverse glassplates 26 may be disposed between courses to prevent any chance of dustor dirt settling on the glass.v

Fig. 12 shows the use of blocks, such as that shown in Figs. 9 and 10,to serve asintermediate courses or as a coping course in' a Wallcomposed of blocks, such as that shown at Ill.

The invention is characterized by numerous advantages over constructionspreviously known. The cost of a wall composed of the block shown is muchless than that of a wall composed of glass tile or brick. As indicatedin Figs. 11 and 12, furthermore, the invention permits light to betransmitted through the Wall at various angles. A much greater amount oflight will thus be transmitted through a wall composed of a wall of myinvention than through one composed of cored blocks having the ends oftheir voids ,only

glazed. The block of my invention, furthermore,-

has considerable structural strength. The glass plates themselves have ahigh compression strength and are firmly bonded to the concrete formingthe block. The great strength of the glass in compression (100,000 lbs.per sq. in.) makes it safe to design the block with relatively thinwalls of plastic material and large window openings, increasing theamount of light transmitted. The method ofI manufacture disclosed issimple and relatively inexpensive.

Although I hav-e illustrated and described but' a preferred form of theinvention and certain modifications thereof, it will be understood thatchanges in the construction and practice described may be made withinthe scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A wall composed of successive courses of blocks, each having spacedside walls and vertical voids therebetween, window openings in said sidewalls and window lights in said openings whereby a ray-of light maypassf'throughl'a windowof one block, partially through the voids of saidone block and a block in an- `adjacent course, and

then through a window of said last mentioned vertically therethrough,window openings in two opposite side Walls of the' block, and glassplates seated in said openings, the material of which the block iscomposed beingv firmly bonded to the edges of said plates whereby totransmit at least part of the load on the block to said plates.

ALBERT HENDERSOII?A

